This lovely and memorable novel could sound schmaltzy or sentimental from a short description. It is very far from being so. Arthur Opp is so overweight that it has become his defining characteristic, drastically limiting his world. He hasn't been out of his house in Brooklyn for 10 years. His memories of a brief, cherished friendship with Charlene, one of his students, both sustain and sadden him as she is one more thing lost to him now. Separated not just by decades apart but by layer upon layer of shame, Arthur and Charlene grope too slowly towards each other while Charlene's son, Kel, faces his own overwhelming demons. The true "heft" of the novel is perhaps to show us these two men, Arthur and Kel, one 40 years younger than the other, following the same path, bludgeoned by the same terrible life blows, both dealing with their pain in their own way. Moore's skill is to unfold their stories, freighted with unhappiness, in a way that is touching, not to say intensely moving, while never becoming mawkish.